San Francisco—Draymond Green said there is no chance of the Golden State Warriors hitting the panic button after the NBA Finals favorites crashed to a series-opening defeat to the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
The Warriors slumped to a stunning 120-108 loss in front of their home fans after the Celtics staged a remarkable fourth-quarter onslaught, outscoring their opponents 40-16.
It was the first time Golden State were beaten at home this postseason, leaving the Warriors desperately needing to win Sunday’s game two in San Francisco.
Green said the Warriors will respond to the challenge after falling behind in the best-of-seven series.
“You get a chance to do something else, do it in a different way, embrace the challenge,” Green said.
“We’ve always embraced challenges. We’ll embrace this one. It’s not a hit to the confidence at all, not one bit.”
“Whether you win every game at home, you still want to win one on the road. And our history, we’ve always won one on the road,” he added.
“So, it’s just nothing to panic about. It’s the first team to win four games, not the first to win one.”
Green’s comments were echoed by Klay Thompson.
“It’s never fun and it hurts on the biggest stage, obviously, but there’s no reason to panic,” Thompson said.
“I like our chances still, and we’ll go home and we’ll digest what happened. I know we’ll be better Game 2.
“There’s no reason to hold onto a loss when you have another game so soon.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said his team will approach game two on Sunday with a sense of “desperation.”
“When you win game one at home, there’s a sense of comfort, and you kind of have a feel for your opponent at that point and make your adjustments,” Kerr said.
“So it’s a different feeling. Obviously you go into Game 2 with more of a sense of desperation.
“But that’s all part of this stuff. We’ve been in this position before, and we’ve won series where we’ve lost the first game… you always kind of assume that you’re going to have to win on the road to win a playoff series.”